Washington DC- Notable journalists and executives from several news organizations have faced the question of how media restores trust among Americans.
Semafor, a digital news platform founded in 2022 by legacy media veterans Ben Smith and Justin B. Smith (Not Related), held a summit on Thursday to discuss the current state of the media, featuring a stacked lineup of news chiefs and personalities across the ideological spectrum.
The summit, dubbed “Innovation to Restore Trust in the News,” has sounded the alarm in the latest poll that showed that Gallup Chair Jim Clifton trusts only 31% of Americans “a great deal” or “a fair amount,” and shows that he focuses on voting that only 8% of them have “a great deal” confidence.
“The current state of media in this country is either the last or penultimate location compared to all other institutions. Someone needs to fix this,” Clifton said.
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CNN CEO Mark Thompson said “keeping the truth” to the network's serious journalism brand, rather than leaning towards opinion, ultimately leads the company out of financial struggles. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
CNN CEO Mark Thompson said he himself doesn't trust “mass media” and cites his journalist instincts to doubt everything.
“I think there are more questionable viewers than compliant audiences who differ from the media,” Thompson said. “I think we should use Kleenex boxes to dry our eyes about the loss of traditional trust and trust our audiences, and try to find a way to rebuild our almost adult relationships, rather than viewing them as sheep who need to believe everything we say.”
But as far as people trust, Thompson argued that CNN's solutions are “true” to their decades-long brand as a hub for news for decades, and “work very hard to be accurate” while focusing on straight news rather than opinions.
Joe Kahn, executive editor of the New York Times, said one way his papers think they want trust is to get to know the “personality” of journalists who have a camera or podcast look to consumers and discuss the reporting and news sales process. He broadly shows growing media distrust and shrugs polls claiming the data is “very flawed.”
Former columnist for The Times, Semafor Ben Smith, asked Khan if he felt the need to look for a conservative journalist because the newsroom is “as liberal as you would expect.”
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“I don't think I'm going out and hiring conservatives. “I want to hire more people than I come from different regions, personal experiences, different backgrounds, different schools, different education, etc. because you're often part of your own personal experience where you grew up, whether you're part of a religious family, whether you have military experience or you can actually open your eyes, you're different to different journalism.
“That's not the same as saying you're going out and looking for someone who voted for Trump and put it on staff. As a newsroom, I don't think that's exactly the right incentive,” Kern added.
New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn insisted on seeking the adoption of a variety of backgrounds and experiences in the newsroom, without looking for individuals just because they are Trump voters. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCuniversal News Group, suggested that solutions to combat media mistrust are investing in local media.
“The strength underlying democracy is a powerful, free and independent press, and the backbone of our media industry is our local bureau,” Conde said. “So, for us as a broadcast network, the backbone of our business is our local TV station. We have a huge footprint in local television and local digital across the country. What we found is actually a lot of news stories that have been born as local news stories and are meant to become nationally important, not just for building trust, but for reporting.
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Cesar Conde, chairman of NBCuniversal News Group, suggested that more investment in local news is the pathway for media to regain American trust. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
NPR CEO Katherine Maher turned the table and urged the media to “trust the audience.”
“We're going to continue talking about how to ensure you're trusted. It actually trusts your audience. They're smart people,” Maher said. “You know, that's one of the things we learned on Wikimedia, show us what we do and be very clear about where we got the information there. Be sure that your audience knows exactly the limits of how to use this information… With NPR, I think our goal is reliable.”
She said, “As someone who didn't appear in the journalism class, it's really worth noting that journalism is a rather self-regulated industry. Journalists who don't practice craft well are probably known to their peers for being a bit lazy. They edit certain parts of the interview.
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NPR CEO Katherine Maher said her news organization's goal is “not to be trusted, it's something you can trust.” (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
Fox News chief political anchor Bret Baier said his approach to journalism was “tough but fair” and that eliminating “feeling” from reports plays a key role in gaining trust among Americans.
“What I think more people need to do, and what I tried to do, is to remove the emotions to remove them from covering the news,” Baier said. “And I think that's the problem for many years and some people have become emotional about it and have lost half of their audience.”
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Wall Street Journal Editor-in-Chief Emma Tucker has similarly expressed the importance of Washington journalists taking emotional stolen from reports, agreeing with the notion that President Trump is too “funny.”
“The stories are extraordinary things that come out every day. And as a journal, we know that we cover them. We're not adding any spins. I think these stories speak for themselves, so we're not adding any emotions to it. And I think it's too early to justify the meltdown.” “There's no room for emotions in the journal. We're good info for people, information that can be used, what it's valuable and useful, and what it's useful, and what it brings to it, it's less valuable. So our strength is, especially our strength, that's what we're going to take away the emotions from it, and it may not be other outlets, but it may be different for us.”
Emma Tucker, editor-in-chief of Fox News' chief political anchor, Bret Baier and Wall Street Journal, suggested that the infusion of “feeling” into media coverage has led to distrust among Americans. (Joseph A. Wulfsohn/Fox News Digital)
Tucker emphasized that the journalists in her paper were “observers, not participants,” and asked to “check for bias” so that personal views would not affect the report.
She also focuses on “a fundamental focus on the audience.”
“Don't you think about what the rest of the newsroom thinks? Or are you going to win an award for me? …What are other journalists thinking? It's not the motivational force behind journalism. What is it doing for readers? Tucker said. “And I think the fourth thing I say about it is that you don't have to be afraid of the consequences of what you publish. It's very easy to fear the consequences of what you publish, especially in a place where you're in such a weak bubble where everyone has something about it.”
“So a good example of that was the story we had from the Biden era,” she continued. “Some of my colleagues in New York warned me that this would give me a very strong response. I don't know how strong it is, but anyway – but I'm very happy that they didn't stop thinking about it because it's an important part of journalism.
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Other well-known interviews from the summit include former MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan, Sirius XM host Megyn Kelly, and FCC chairman Brendan Carr.
The Semafor's Summit took place in an intimate hall in the Gallupville, Washington, DC, where Semafor's DC office is located. Participants consisted primarily of media journalists from several news outlets, including the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR, the Daily Beasts, and Semer Forum Journalists and staff.
Among those seen in the audience were former CNN CEO Chris Licht and journalist Mark Halperin.
